Bali bomb suspect released

Police in Indonesia have released a man arrested just days ago for his resemblance to the composite sketch of a suspect in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed nearly 200 people, a police spokesman said today.

The man, identified only by the initials RS, was detained Thursday at a bus terminal in the town of Bajawa on Flores island, about 310 miles east of Bali. He was flown to Denpasar, the capital of Bali, on Friday and released on Saturday night.

“He is not the man we are looking for,” said Police Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang, adding that police had taken his fingerprints and checked his alibis.

Aritonang said two more people who died in the blast were identified Sunday - and American and a Briton – bringing the total of number of victims that have been identified to 113.

Last week, police launched a nationwide manhunt for those behind the Oct. 12 bombings after releasing sketches of three suspects. The search has so far focused on the islands east of Bali and on Indonesia’s main island of Java, they said.

On Saturday, the spiritual leader of the Islamic group that is emerging as a prime suspect in the attack refused to answer police questions. Police on Sunday failed to turn up for more questioning of the cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir of Jemaah Islamiyah.

“Maybe they will come Monday, because yesterday they said they have to consult with their supervisor,” said Zaenudin Paru, one of Bashir’s lawyers.

Bashir, 64, has been hospitalised for what he says is a respiratory ailment since his arrest October 18. Police are trying to question him about a separate string of bombings on churches in December 2000 and about an alleged plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri. He has not been implicated in the Bali blasts.

Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Jalil has accused the al Qaida terror network of being involved in the bombings. Neighbouring Australia, which suffered the heaviest casualties in the Bali bombings, and other countries have identified Jemaah Islamiyah, an al Qaida-linked organisation, as the likely culprit.